TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) — Skillets were sizzling on Tuesday morning as volunteers and celebrity cooks participated in the first ever Kearney Cook-Off. It’s a fundraiser benefitting the Kearney Center in Tallahassee.

Celebrity cooks donned special aprons and cooked an appetizer, entrée, and dessert. They had to use only ingredients from their home pantry.

Racing against the clock, they cooked, plated, and presented the food to a panel of judges. The judges are all clients of the Kearney Center who also volunteer in the kitchen there.

Monique Ellsworth is the executive director of the Comprehensive Emergency Services Center Inc. The group oversees the Kearney Center.

“It takes an entire community to come together to make sure we open every day, that we operate and are able to serve 400 people every single evening and 500 to 600 people every single day,” said Ellsworth.

Tom Derzypolski from BowStern Marketing Communications won first place in the friendly cooking competition.

The celebrity cooks helped raise more than $5,000.

The Kearney Center plans to host another Kearney Cook-Off fundraiser in 2018.